Treasured Things
by guessesandhunches
Summary: It's been one year since the War on the Moon, and Kid thinks about the mortality of humans and death gods; his friends, and himself.


**Disclaimer: Don't own these wonderful characters that manage to cause me such pain.**

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Kid lay on his large bed in the large manor he lived in, and stared at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. The house was quiet; Liz and Patty had been out getting things since early this morning, and despite being a Saturday, all the other weapon-meister teams were getting their everyday work and errands done. The lights were off, the large window let streams of light in through its white, translucent curtains. Kid lay there alone in that quiet house, and he thought.

Kid thought about how he loved his friends, how Maka had always been good company in her symmetry and intellectual conversations, ever since they were children. They worked well as strategic fighters, shared the skill of being able to detect souls, and on occasion they communicated through looks in the eye. Kid and Soul didn't have too tangible a closeness. Despite that, he and Soul seemed to have a similar understanding of their surroundings, especially when it came to Maka.

Maka. Kid gazed upward and watched the shadows fade and reappear with their movement over the lower-than-noonday sun.

When Kid was younger, younger and more foolish, he'd been very close with Maka. When it was just him, her, and Back*Star, he thinks he'd had a crush on her. He didn't even know that Shinigami could get crushes. She was smart, symmetrical, and didn't understand Black*Star's behavior. His somewhat shallow yet somewhat deep feelings did not grow or fade over the years, but as he saw Soul's attraction to her, and Maka's much later, but budding love for him—Kid knew his place, and was happy that Maka had a found a relationship with someone that was more dear to her than that of their friendship as children. Kid had noticed their affections for each other long before they themselves realized it, and he detached himself, and respectfully stepped out of the picture and roles he had somewhat occupied for Soul to enter and Maka to open the door. Soul knew though that Kid considered Maka close, and much to each side's gladness, their relationship was not shifty or awkward in any shape or form.

Kid thought about Black*Star and his outrageous lack of symmetry, but despite that, his new and steadily growing maturity. The fact he always claimed and vowed he would surpass him—he found it to be a nice change from the others who'd challenged and been beaten before. He and Black*Star never were too similar, but they too, had a friendship that Kid held close. He and Tsubaki had not interacted much on their own either, and she didn't quite understand her either, but they were friendly towards each other.

He'd met Liz and Patty four years ago when Liz was fourteen and Patty was thirteen—they'd grown up on the streets of Brooklyn and tried to mug him. Kid left himself unchecked and let out a humorless chuckle. _A chance to redeem themselves…_

Liz and Patty were surprisingly caring and understanding of his OCD. He began to wonder if it was too much trouble for them and so he tried to improve, but alas, his brain's level of disgust for unsymmetrical things was nearly insurmountable. _And yet,_ Kid stared at his gray ceiling. _And yet_, Kid smiled softly. _They're still here._

Kid never had a mother, and in a way, the two Thompson sisters filled that role for him. They were almost like a small and broken family, as Kid no longer had any family. They'd given him something he thought he'd never have. And for that, he was deeply grateful. After all, they were the only ones who knew he shed tears at night, not necessarily what they were for, but that they even existed. And for them to not coddle him and understand that his tears were silent and thus, not meant to be heard. They understood the quiet message that Kid did not want to be sympathized with in such a way where they treated him differently.

Kid's smile disappeared. But all good things had to come to an end, and his relationship with his friends would come sooner than he'd anticipated. Kid was the odd one out of the group; Kid was the shinigami, a lord of death, and because of that he was to live longer, much longer, than any of his friends. He would outlive his friends for generation upon generation, and even if he were to befriend anyone new, they would pass away as well, and they could never replace who he had now. They never could, never would, and never will. Kid cherished every moment he had with them because although the years seemed long to them, they almost became grains of sand for Kid.

_Stop that._ Kid stopped his train of thought and rubbed his wet and red eyes. He sat up with effort and blinked before looking out the window. Across the street there was a park, and in that park he saw a young girl with her stuffed bear and her mother held her yellow balloon. Soon, a boy joined them, and the three of them left the sight of the window, laughing and smiling. Kids had never seen Kid the same way ever since the war on the moon. Nobody did; no one except his friends. His tear ducts stung again, and Kid wondered for the what was probably the hundredth time, how his father never acted in such a way that lead no one to ever wonder if he cried.

_Maybe some of fresh air would do me good._ Kid slowly dragged himself out of bed, letting his feet drag along the floor. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a long photo frame of Lord Death half an inch to the right—but he walked past it, quietly making his way to the front door. Any traces of happiness and mirth left his face, because as he passed the next hall, a full length mirror reminded him that his three lines of Sanzu were connected, and that he was no longer Death the Kid, but Shinigami.

For exactly one year he had lived as full Shinigami, and the only Shinigami left.

The golden knob on the black door of his house, and the bright sunlight hit him full force on his paling face. He shut the door and saw Liz and Patty at the foot of the concrete stairs.

"Hey," Liz seemed surprised that he had left his room.

Patty threw the plastic bags of crayons, paper, and bread into the house, and shut the door. Kid walked down the stairs, and the two sisters followed him, because across the street he saw Maka and Soul walking with bags of groceries. Maka spotted him, and waved with a bright smile. Soul turned to see who she was waving at, and he gave a grin as well. Kid felt a larger smile creep up his face since what seemed to be a very long time.

"Hey, Kid, Patty, Liz," Soul smiled. "We're headed to Tsubaki and Black*Star's place; wanna come?"

Kid's smile didn't fade this time. "That would be lovely, thank you."

Maka beamed. "Of course!"

_Yes,_ Kid let himself trail behind to see his friends walk down the street, and looking at their backside figures. _I'll treasure this for as long as it lasts, and as long as I'm alive._


End file.
